Narrow web loom



March 1, 1966 c. F. LIBBY NARROW WEB LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 12, 1963 FIG.|

FIG.2

INVENTOR.

CARL F. LIBBY BY j %M@ ffizan ATTORNEYS March 1, 1966 -c. F. LIBBY 3,237,652

NARROW WEB LOOM Filed Sept. 12, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

CARL F. LIBBY BWW fwa ATTORNEYS March 1, 1966 I an L IBBY NARROW WEB LOOH 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 12, 1963 INVENTOR.

CARL F. LlBBY ATTORNEYS March 1, 1966 c. F. LIBBY NARROW WEB LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 12, 1963 INVENTOR CARL F. LIBBY FIG? ATTORNEYS United States Patent G i 3,237,652 NARROW WEB LOOM Carl F. Libby, Stoughton, Mass., assignor to John D. Riordan, Hopkinton, Mass., and Gertrude C. Libby, Stoughton, Mass, trustees of the Libby family trusts Filed Sept. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 308,596 3 Claims. (Cl. 139-124) This invention relates to a loom for weaving narrow webs by thrusting successive loops of a continuous filling or weft yarn through the warp shed after each change of shed, the end of each such loop being caught at the further side of the shed and knitted through the end of the preceding loop, thus forming a selvage'which is a chain-stitch.

Webbing of a width up to two inches or so canbe rapidly woven on machines of the type described and illustrated in Us. Patent No. 2,180,831, but for wider webs operational difiiculties arise. It is anobject of the present invention to provide a machine for rapidly weaving webs having Widths of five or six inches or so, the weft loops being projected through the shed from one' side only by-a yarn-carrying finger which is reciprocated in a straight line along its longitudinal axis. It is an object of the invention to provide items of structure designed to ensure that the 'weft loops will go where intended and will be caught reliably at relatively high speeds of operation. For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawings, of which FIGURE 1 is a front elevational View of a loom embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the same;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view on a larger scale of some of the parts for laying the weft;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged plan view of the machine with part of the top plate being'broken away, the gearing at the ends being omitted;

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view on the section line 6 -6 of FIGURE 1, showing the linkage for actuating the reed; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the linkage for actuating the needle.

The machine shown On the drawings comprises a bed 10 on which is a main frame including parallel walls-12, 14 and 16, and a topplate 18. A main drive shaft 20 is journalled in the walls 12 and 14 and is driven by any suitable source of power (not'shown) belt-connected to a pulley wheel 22 mounted on an end of the shaft 20. A mitre-gear 24 on the shaft 20 meshes with a mitre-gear 26 on a vertical shaft 28 on the upper end of Which is mounted a disk 30 bearing a planetary gear wheel 32 which meshes with a stationary sun gear wheel 34 and is carried around the sun gear 34 by the disk 30. The planet gear 32 is pivotally connected at 36, a point spaced from its center, to an end of a link 38 the other end of which is pivoted at 40 to a triangular carriage 42 having bearings 44, 45 and 46 which slide on horizontal parallel rods 48 and 50, respectively. The carriage 42 has an extension 52 to which is rigidly attached a weft-laying finger 54.

As a result of the planetary motion of the gear wheel 32 and its link connection with the carriage 42, the finger 54 moves in and out of the warp shed during about 240 of each revolution of the disk 30 and is virtually stationary during the remaining 120, thus providing time for the newly laid loop of filling to be beaten up to the fell of the fabric. As the planetary gear 32 rolls on the sun gear 34 from its extreme position to the right, as seen in FIGURE 5, in which position the link 38 is aligned with the centers of the gears and is remote from the sun gear,

to the extreme position to the left, as indicated by broken lines, in which position the link is aligned with the gear centers but lies across the sun gear, the motion of the pivot 36 to the left about the axis of the gear 32 is added to the leftward motion of the gear itself about the sun gear 34 until the planet gear has traversed 90 of the sun gear circumference. At this point the pivot 36 starts moving to the right with respect to the axis of the planet gear 32, thus reducing the progress of carriage 42 toward the left. This results in a substantial dwell when the finger 54 is fully retracted from the shed, allowing time for the reed to beat up the filling.

As indicated in FIGURE 4, the finger 54 is in the form of a rigid metal channel on its side, the free end ofwhich is pointed as at 56. In the upper wall of the finger, near the free end thereof, are two small holes 58 and 60, the hole 60 being nearer than the hole 58 to the end 56 of the finger. The filling or weft yarn F leads from a guide eye 62 through a hole (not shown) in the back of the finger 54 near the middle thereof to the holes 58 and 60 and thence to the fabric which is being woven. In the lower wall of the finger at the free end thereof is a deep notch 64 the inner end of which is directly below the hole 60. When the finger 54 starts toward the warp shed W to lay 'a loop of filling therein, a weft deflector 66 is actuated to push the filling that isbetween the fabric and the finger into the path of the advancing finger so as to ensure its entering the notch 64 as the finger enters the shed. There is then a portion of the filling extending vertically from the hole 60 down to the notch 64 to be caught by a knitting needle 68 which is mounted at the further side of the warp shed on a level with the finger 54. When the finger 54 is at the end of its stroke, this vertical portion of the filling represents the end of the loop of yarn which is left inthe shed as the finger is retracted. As the channel of the finger 54 is much wider than the needle, the vertical portion of the filling will be reliably presented to the needle in spite of possible vibration of the end of the finger when the loorn is operated rapidly.

Also mounted on the shaft 20 is a cam disk 70 in a face of which is a cam groove 72 (FIGUREI7). A follower 74 rides in this groove and is mounted on the short arm 76 of a bell-crank which is pivoted at 78. The long arm 80 of the bell-crank is'connected by a link82 to a. slider.

84 on which is mounted the knittingtneedle 68. Adjacent to the needle 68 is a presser 86in position to be engaged by the needle when a yarn loop is to be cast off.

To beat up each loop of weft yarn immediately after it has been projected through the warp shed, a reed 88 is pivoted to the main frame at 90 and'is swung to and from the tell of the fabric by a linkage connecting it with the drive shaft 20. A crank 92 on the shaft 20 is connected to the end of a link 94 the other end of which is connected to a toggle joint 96 of two bars 98 and 100. The bar 98 is pivoted at 102 to the main frame. The bar is connected to the reed 88 as at 104. As the shaft 20 and crank 92 make each revolution, the reed 88 remains in the retracted position shown in FIGURE 6 during about 220 of the revolution. During the next 70 the reed swings forward to beat up [the newly laid weft, then swings back to its retracted position during the remaining 70. This provides a considerable interval of time for the weft-laying finger to project a weft loop through the warp shed and then retire from the shed while the reed remains out of the way.

The filling deflector 66 is mounted on the end of an arm 106 which is connected near its other end to a st tionary frame member 108 by a pin 110 from the member 108 extending through a slot 112 in the arm 106 so that the arm can move longitudinally as well as rocking about the pin. The arm 106 is actuated by a crank wheel 114 mounted on a shaft 116. The crank pin 118 on thewheel extends through the arm and causes it to rock and reciprocate as the wheel 114 revolves, the filling deflector 66 at the end of the arm being moved thereby to describe an approximately elliptical path in a vertical plane. The shaft 116 is operatively connected to the main drive shaft 20 by a chain 120' on sprocket wheels carried by these shafts. When the reed pushes the filling forward in the process of beating up the loop of yarn which has been laid in the shed by the finger 54, the filling deflector 66 pushes back the yarn leading from the shed to the end of the finger so that the yarn will enter the notch 64 below the hole 60 in the finger and the yarn will extend vertically between the hole 60 and the notch 64 as the finger is thrust through the shed. The knitting needle 68 will then catch this vertical-stretch of yarn which becomes the end of the loop left by the finger 54 in the shed as the finger is retracted. The needle is then actuated to pull the new loop through the previously caught loop which is then cast off.

The loom is provided wit-h customary equipment such as harnesses 122 which are raised and lowered by cam dislcs 124 through connections (not shown). The disks are mounted on a shaft 126 driven through gear wheels 128 .and 130 from the main drive shaft 20. I The woven fabric is wound on a take-up roll 132 which is slowly rotated by the main drive shaft through the shaft 126, a chain 134, a shaft 136, and reduction gearing generally indicated at 138.

As it is desirable that the throw of the finger 54 be adjusted to the width of the fabric to be Woven so that the travel of the finger will not be unnecessarily long, the gear wheels 32 and 34 are replaced by gear wheels of lesser diameter when narrow webs are to be woven. in such cases, the planet gear 32 wil-l have to be mounted nearer to the sun gear so as to mesh therewith. Two centers 140 and 142 are provided on the disk 30 for smaller planet gears.

I claim:

1. A narrow-web loom having a frame with means thereon for forming and changing a warp shed, an elongated weft-laying finger movable in the direction of its longitudinal axis into and out of the warp shed, a carriage on which said finger is mounted at one end slidably supported by said frame, means on said frame for reciprocating said carriage and finger, said reciprocating means comprising a stationary sun gear, a planet gear of the same diameter meshing with said sun gear, means for driving said planet gear to revolve around said sun gear, and a rigid-link pivotally connected at one end to said-carriage and at the other end to said planet gear at a point spaced from the center thereof and remote from said sun gear when said link is aligned with the centers of said gears and is remote from said sun gear.

2. A loom as described in claim 1, said finger comprising a rigid channel member carried on its side whereby it has an upper horizontal wall, a vertical back wall and a lower horizontal wall, said upper wall having a small guide hole for filling near the free end of the finger, said lower wall having a notch the inner end of which is directly below said hole.

3. A narrow-web loom having a frame with means thereon for forming and changing a warp shed, an elongated weft-laying finger adapted to move along its longitudinal axis to enter one side of the shed and to carry a loop of filling to the other side of the shed, means at said other side of the shed for catching and retaining the end of each loop of filling so projected, the entering end portion of said finger being in the form of a rigid channel on its side with horizontal upper and lower walls and a vertical back wall, said upper wall having a small guide hole for the filling near the entering end of the finger, said lower wall having a notch in its end, the inner end of said notch being directly below said hole, means on said frame for reciprocating said finger into an out of said shed, and a filling deflector operating in timed relation to the movements of said finger to push the filling which leads from said hole to the fabric into the path of said finger when advancing to cause the filling to enter said notch whereby the finger carries through the shed a vertical portion of the filling extending from said hole to said notch, and means for movingsa'id loopcatching means into position to engage said vertical portion of the filling, said finger-reciprocating means including a carriage on which an end of said finger is mounted,,rods on said frame on which said carriage is slidable, a stationary sun gear, a planet gear of equal size meshing with said sun gear, means driving said planet gear to move around said sun gear, and a rigid link pivotally connected at one end to said planet gear at a point spaced from its center and at its other end to said carriage.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,281,053 10/1918 Morris 139-123 2,180,832 11/1939 Libby 139-1241 2,304,195 12/1942 Payne 139123 2,524,734 10/1950 Pfau 139123 2,980,146 4/1961 ONeill 139--124.1 3,122,173 2/1964 ONeil-l 139--124.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,078,955 3/ 1960 Germany.

18,084 1888 Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER. Primary Examiner.

I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A NARROW-WEB LOOM HAVING A FRAME WITH MEANS THEREON FOR FORMING AND CHANGING A WARP SHED, AN ELONGATED WEFT-LAYING FINGER MOVABLE IN THE DIRECTION OF ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS INTO AND OUT OF THE WARP SHED, A CARRIAGE ON WHICH SAID FINGER IS MOUNTED AT ONE END SLIDABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME, MEANS ON SAID FRAME FOR RECIPROCATING SAID CARRIAGE AND FINGER, SAID RECIPROCATING MEANS COMPRISING A STATIONARY SUN GEAR, A PLANET GEAR OF THE SAME DIAMETER MESHING WITH SAID SUN GEAR, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID PLANET GEAR TO REVOLVE AROUND SAID SUN GEAR, AND A RIGID LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID CARRIAGE AND AT THE OTHER END TO SAID PLANET GEAR AT A POINT SPACED FROM THE CENTER THEREOF AND REMOTE FROM SAID SUN GEAR WHEN SAID LINK IS ALIGNED WITH THE CENTERS OF SAID GEARS AND IS REMOTE FROM SAID SUN GEAR. 